Melanie Goodman, award-winning owner and founder of the company Trevisan Social Media Marketing.
The star of today’s profile is Melanie Goodman, award-winning owner and founder of the company Trevisan Social Media Marketing.
She is also a lawyer, LinkedIn consultant, a trainer, blogger, author, and a successful entrepreneur.
Melanie gained a lot of business experience as a director for the corporate services branch of an international law firm.
But it was while there that she noticed a gap in the market for someone to help grow a company by using the opportunities that LinkedIn can provide.
Her articles on this subject have appeared in many leading websites and magazines, including Entrepreneur.com and, of course, LinkedIn.
You can learn a lot from Melanie if you are an upcoming entrepreneur or a business owner who wants to boost company sales. Read on...
Starting Out - Funding
Some 80 percent of businesses fail within the first year. So how can you build a successful growing business?
Here are some points to keep in mind.
Find a market need – test the market via friends and social media and do a lot of research before launching to iron out any problems.
Find enough capital – raise funds with investors, crowdfunding, obtain a business loan, use an incubator, or find an angel investor. Or use all sources together. Whatever route, it takes serious time and planning but it is an important first step to make a business sustainable.
Find the right team – ensure you have the right balance within the workplace. Diversity is a strength, but remember what you want from your staff - both professionally and personality-wise. Many companies use personality tests in recruitment to help them chose the right person.
Who is the competition? – research your competition and see what works well for them, and see what they do badly. Keep a well-rounded perspective of your market.
Pricing – keep your pricing fair. Ensure you charge enough to turn a profit but low enough to retain and attract new clients.
The team at Trevisan Social Media did their research, studied the primary reasons for their specific business model’s success and failures and was able to position themselves perfectly in her market boosting the likelihood of success.
Finding the Right Team
With success comes growth. More clients equal more work, which means hiring more staff to ensure you keep yourself afloat, stress-free and making money.
Melanie’s team includes a graphic designer, specialist finance and investment writer, email campaign and lead generation expert.
But how can you pick the right staff?
The recruitment process can be time-consuming. Though methods such as advertising on online job boards and through social media work for many companies, keep in mind that what works in one location will not necessarily work in another.
Trevisan Social Media Marketing is based right here in Geneva. In this city, networking is one of the most popular ways to find the right person for your job.
More often than not, people find jobs through referrals from friends and family and even simple networking events.
Additionally, a business owner needs to boost visibility both to attract customers and future employees by;
- Making it easy for people to contact you
- Maintaining a positive image
- Having clean and pleasant surroundings – even on the web!
- Asking for testimonials and display them prominently
- Engaging customers on social media
- Monitoring your online reputation
- Getting positive publicity for your small business
- Contributing visibly and positively in your community
Finding staff is just one challenge an owner, founder and entrepreneur like Melanie faces on a day-to-day basis. Holding a job versus being the boss has many challenges. If you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur yourself, you should consider if you armed and ready to face the challenges your business will entail, involve, create, and bring to you. But you can do it!
Melanie holds a course on the fundamentals of crafting a compelling LinkedIn profile, that can dramatically increase your chances of converting visitors into clients. For more information, visit Link Tank at trevisansocial.com
Creating Good Entrepreneurial Habits
What do you think it takes to be an award-winning business owner? Where do you start?
Well, it all starts with the little things, the habits we hold daily that create our characteristics and of course leads you in a direction of how you will manage yourself, your staff and most importantly your customers.
Successful entrepreneurs also make it all about the customer. Studies show that customers are four times more likely to switch to a competitor if they have a customer service concern versus a price or product issue.
Entrepreneurs make big decisions carefully. Thinking through every decision and making the best choice with informed information is what they best do. Whether the result is good or bad, how you deal with the challenges in the short or long term shapes your business. Ensure you have the right counsel around you when making the big decisions.
Nor are entrepreneurs scared of the road less travelled. Trying something new is bold and can be frightening even for the toughest person. But entrepreneurs have that flare to dare to try something new and are not afraid to be different. Entrepreneurs should also recognize and harness the technologies around them to take their business down the road to success.
If you rely solely, however, on technology to keep yourself up to date, you can become reliant on a machine. Invest in yourselves. You need to keep your creativity afloat to keep your business new ever-changing and up to date with your customer’s needs. Try learning something new, travelling somewhere different, but above all find time to rest. You work hard, you deserve it.
Six Ways Your Business Can Harness LinkedIn
“Most busy professionals do not have the time or skills to leverage LinkedIn to really gain significant results,” Melanie says. From this realisation, she decided to provide a service to increase leads and provide social media marketing for businesses within this niche field. Her meticulous attitude in business, from finding the right product, researching, and getting the right staff, was what led her to become the Winner of Citywealth Award -Best Newcomer of the Year 2019.
When Melanie started Trevisan Social Media Marketing she found it difficult to, “convince people that LinkedIn marketing can be performed in a non-spammy, organic way.”
With the amount of sales emails you receive, it is easy to assume you could receive a tornado of messages via your LinkedIn account. But it is not the case. LinkedIn is different.
Have you used LinkedIn to market your business product or service? If not, why??
“LinkedIn company page helps you network and prospect for quality sales leads, but it also establishes your public image on a global scale as a reputable and trustworthy organization.”
Benefits of using LinkedIn for your business in more depth in comparison to other social media sites are:
- Creating shareable content that benefits your audience.
- Introducing new products or services you’ve developed.
- Differentiating yourself from your competitors.
- Finding candidates who can make a significant contribution to your business success.
- Checking on what your competition is doing.
- Improving your ranking in search engines.
Using LinkedIn for your company page provides your customers with a professional platform for them to network and for you to find new talented staff and of course future sales. It is there to enhance your company’s opportunities and to find new clients.
“84% of users generated several business opportunities from the use of LinkedIn.”
LinkedIn is a great tool for finding new customers, and it is easy to use and it is free. However, there are many ways to find new clients, particularly when starting a business. Melanie used her husband's contacts to find her first client. In the first month, she began working with World Radio Switzerland and then financial publishers came rushing in to hire her.
Yes, it can be this simple. But for those who may be looking into more ways to find customers, I would always recommend getting comfortable speaking about your product or service by using an "elevator pitch" to your friends and family first. Once you are comfortable with your pitch, go and find groups online who need your services and start to network online. Using Facebook alongside LinkedIn is a great way to build your network and spread the word about your new business.
Your Journey Starts Today
It is a long road to being a successful entrepreneur, both mentally and physically challenging, but if you prepare yourself and your team, you can and you will overcome any and all challenges that come your way. Be bold, be brave, embrace your crazy and keep moving forward. If you haven’t started your company yet, keep going - you are so close. For those who have, we would love to hear your success stories.
I want to say a big thank you to Melanie Goodman for sharing her time, knowledge and expertise. I hope inspiring entrepreneurs found this useful. Never give up on your dreams.
Good luck on your journey.
Further reading:
For more information, visit Melanie Goodman's LinkedIn profile, and her website Trevisan Social.
Melanie holds a course on the fundamentals of crafting a compelling LinkedIn profile. For more information, visit Link Tank.
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/10/25/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fail-and-how-can-you-avoid-being-one-of-them/#3d135b643b5f
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/244780082_Word-of-mouth_as_a_recruitment_source_An_integrative_model
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/ways-to-get-word-of-mouth-for-your-business-4026063
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250564
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249849
https://rawsoninternetmarketing.com/social-media-6-benefits-linkedin-company-page/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231375
https://www.ntaskmanager.com/blog/the-40-best-organizational-tools-to-enhance-your-work/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/272185
